Roust-box cover



Mar. 27, l G. E. KENT ROUST BOX COVER IIIIIIIIIAI Patented Mar. 27,i923.

ITE STIES l man@ rare crema.

GEORGE E. KENT, OF WOODLAND, MAINE, ASSIGNOR TO MURPHY IRON WORKS, OF

DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION 0F MICHIGAN.

ROUST-BOX COVER.

Application led March 2, 1922. Serial No. 540,485.

T 0 all 'L0 hom` t may concern Be it known that l, GEORGE E. KENT, acitizen of the United States, residing at Woodland. in the county ofl/Vashington and State of Maine, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Beust-Box Covers, of which the following aspecification. n

As is well known,l certain types or kinds of furnaces are provided withholes conveniently located just-above the grate through which aroust-bar is inserted at intervals by the fireman as maybe required forstirring up the bed of fuel to facilitate its combusf tion.

Such holes are ordinarily fitted with cast ings, known as roust-boxesextending through the front masonry wall, and a flange for each hole isbolted to the furnace frontplate, being equipped with a movable cover.

When it is desired to insert the roust-bar and project it through theroust-box to pern form its usual fuel stirring or agitating function,the rockingly mounted cover is temporarily swung 'around out of the wayby hand or by the roust-bar, thus uncovering the aperture, and a specialprojection on the flange prevents `an unintentional return of the coverto normal position over the hole.

When the rousting operation has been completed, the operator rocks thecover back into placethus again covering or closing the hole. j

If the attendant or fireman is comparatively expert, he can open andclose the roust-holes, that is, manipulate their covers. by theroustbai` itself, but ordinarily these covers must be operated byhand,thus requiring. additional work `or movements which'are more or lesstedious constituting somewhatof a nuisance or annoyance particularlywhen the fireman is busy and is required to attend to aknumber offurnaces or stokers. l. y

The leading aim of the present invent-ion, is, therefore, to provide asimple roust-box cover which can be easily actuated by the roust-bar andwhich will automatically close when the fuel-bed stirring operation hasbeen completed and the roustbar with-- drawn.

Afurther purpose of the invention is to supply a structure of this typeprovided with a sight or pilot means to assist the irev man inlocatingthe exact point for theinsertion of the bar, which operation inthe new appliance automatically opens the cover.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an applianceof thisgeneral character which-is simple in construction, and economical to`manufacture, which is effective in operation, and which is unlikely tobecome damaged or injured in ordinary service.

To enable those skilled in this art to have a full and completeunderstanding of this invention both from structural andjfunctionalstandpoints, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawing, a desirableand preferred embodiment of the invention and in the two figures of suchdrawing, like reference characters have been employed to designate ythesame parts.

ln this drawing, j i j Figure 1 is a fragmentary` 'face view of a rpartof the front-plate of a furnace or Stoker illustrating in elevation onthe new type or style of roust-boX construction; and Figure 2 is avertical section on. line of Figure 1, the parts being viewed in thedirection indicated by the arrows.

'Referring to this drawing for an understanding of the details of thestructure, it will be perceivedthat the metal front or face plate of thestoker or furnace has been given the reference character 11, such platebeing apertured at 12 for the reception of the front end ofA a circularo-r tubular roustbox 13 through which the roust-bar, not shown, isadapted tobe temporarily introduced into the furnacev to. perform its`usual work in the hands of the operator. l

By means of a'pair of threaded studslfl and 15 havingheads incorporatedin the face-plate and a pair of coacting nuts 16 and 17, asuitably-shaped flange member 1S surrounding the hole is fastened to thefront of theplate.

Such circular liange element vhas a slightly-tapered 'oroutwardly-Haring `hole 19 therethrough yin register` with and ofsubstantially the same diameter as the passage through the roust-boX,such construction facilitating the introduction or insertion of theroust-bar., all as willbe readil.yunclerstood. A pairy of companion orcooperatingcover elements 21 and 22 arerockingly or swingingly mountedat their upper ends on a hinge-pin screwed into a threadedhole 24C inthe flange memberandhaving a head Q5 preventing dislodgment of the covermenibers.

The one cover element 2l is of general semi-circular contourwith anapertured ear 26 of about half its thicknessconstituting the simplemeans by which it is mounted for oscillation on the supportinghinge-pin, whereas, the mating or associated cover member 22 is ofsimilar but reversed shape with a perforated lug 27 mounted on thehinge-pin just outside of the ear 26, whereby the two correlated'coversegments are capable of `independent rocking or swinging movements.

It is to be noted that .the axis of the hingepin is substantially in theplane of the flat face of each cover part, and, consequently, by reasonof their own weights, these two members when unrestrained, rock or swingdown until their corresponding plane faces engage one another, as isshown in full lines in Figure l.

Stated somewhat otherwise, when the cover is operative to close the Ypassage through the roust-box, the straight edge faces of both elements,bear on one another directly below the axis of the hinge-,pin and inregister with the vertical diameter of the round hole 12 and that of'thecorrespondingly shapedpass'age through the roust-box.

At the center of this two-part cover or shieldthere is a round, light orpilot hole through which the light of the fire within the furnace may beseen, such aperture being composed of two matching or registeringsemi-circular holes 28 and 29 in the contacting edges of the pair ofcover elements.

In order that the wall around such sight aperture may be thin tofacilitate .the passage of the light rays therethrough, and in orderalso to provide simple and effective means whereby the end of theroust-bar may be used to separate such cover members to permit itsintroduction into the furnace through the roust-boX and to facilitateits withdrawal'from the furnace, the two cover elements on their outerfaces are provided with matching semi-egg-shaped flaring recesses 31,32, leading to the central sight hole 28, 29, and on their inner facesthey have similar inwardly-widening registering or mating cavities 33,thus making the intermediate portion of the cover wall supplied with thesmall, round, sight hole comparatively or relatively thin.

As will be' readily understood, both the inner and outer flaringcavities contribute to' making the light in the, sight-holefconspicuous, and, in addition, `the outer 'recess acts as a guide forthe end of the roustbar, the inward movement ofwhich when aimed at thespot of light automatically engages 'and separates the cover parts asdepicted inxdotted lines in Figure 1the roustbar being similarlyshown'and marked with the reference character 34, these Cover sectionsby gravity acting on them immediately and automatically closing the holeas soon as the bar is withdrawn'.

rl`he fronts of many furnaces are in the dark and the fireman frequentlyencounters difficulty in quickly locating the roust-holes, but with thisnovel and improved structure, he merely jabs the end of the bar at theapex of the generally-conical outer surface which action pushes theparts of the covervapart permitting its continued travel into thefurnace for action on the fuel bed. Of course as soon as the bar iswithdrawn, the cover automatically closes by reason of the action ofgravity on its companion elements.

'lhose skilled in this art will readily unw derstand that the applianceshown anddescribed in detail is only one desirable embodiment of theinvention and that the lat-I ter is susceptible of a variety ofsatisfactory embodiments. Accordingly, many minor mechanical changes maybe made in the structure shown without departure from the heart andessence of the invention and without Vthe sacrifice of any of itssubstantial benefits and advantages. y

I claim:

1. In a furnace roust-box cover construction, the combination of asupport adjacent to the passage through which a roust-bar is adapted tobe introducedinto the furnace, and a plurality of cover elementsrockingly mounted on said support and unitedly forming a cover for saidpassage by gravity, vsaid elements having mating recesses in theiradjacent edges forming a pilot hole, the eXterior and interior surfacesof said elements converging toward said pilot hole, whereby tofacilitate the passage lof light therethrough and whereby a roust-baraimed at said pilot hole will enga-ge said exterior converging lpurposesand rock said elements apart permitting its introduction into saidpassage. a

2. In a furnace roust-box cover construction, the combination of asupport adjacent to the passage through which a roust-bar is adapted tobe introduced into the furnace, and a plurality of cover-elementsrockingly mounted on said support and unitedly forming a cover for saidpassage by gravity, said elements having mating recesses in theiradjacent edges forming ,a pilot hole, the; eX- terior surfaces of saidelements converging toward said pilot hole, whereby a roustfbaraimed atsaid' pilot hole will engage said exterior converging surfacesL and rocksaid elements apart permitting its 'introduction into the furnace. l i

3.- In a furnace roust-box cover construction, the combination of asupport adjacent to thepassage through which a roust-bar is adapted tobe introduced; into the furnace,V and a plurality ofcoverv elementsmovably mounted on said support and unitedly forming a cover for saidaperture, said cover elements having a sight hole therethrough adjacentto their meeting edges to facilitate the insertion of the end of aroust-bar aimed at such holeto separate the cover elements and thus openup said aperture.

4. A furnace roust-boX cover' construction, comprising in combination,an apertured support through which the roust-bar is adapted to beintroduced into the furnace, and a plurality of cove'r members movablymounted on said support and adapted to unitedly constitute a cover forsaid aperture, said members having surfaces located to facilitate theinsertion of the end of the bar between and cause a Wedging separatingaction on the cover members to open up the passage.

A furnace roust-boX cover construction, comprising in combination, anapertu'red support through which the roust-bar is adapted to beintroduced into the furnace, and a plurality of cover members rockinglymounted on said support and adapted to unitedly constitute a cover forsaid aperture, said members having surfaces located to facilitate theinsertion of the end of the bar between and cause a Wedging separatingaction on the cover members to open up the passage.

6.l A furnace roust-boX cover construction,

comprising in combination, an apertured y support through which theroust-bar is adapted to be introduced, a pivot pin on said support, anda plurality of cover members rockingly mounted on said pin and adaptedto unitedly constitute a cover for said aperture, said members havingsurfaces located to facilitate the insertion of the end of the barbetween and cause a Wedging separating action on the cover members toopen the passage.

GEO. E. KENT.

